AMSTD 500 Theory and Method, Penn State Harrisburg, Fall 2006, Prof. Bronner, Page 1 of 19
American Studies
Theory and Method
AMSTD 500
Schedule No. 704557
American Studies Program, Penn State Harrisburg
Fall 2006, W 6:15-9 p.m.
Rm. 212E, Olmsted Building
Simon Bronner, Ph.D.
Distinguished University Professor of American Studies and Folklore
American Studies Program
W356 Olmsted Building
Penn State Harrisburg
777 West Harrisburg Pike
Middletown, PA 17057-4898
717-948-6039 (office)
717-948-6201 (secy)
717-948-6724 (fax)
Office Hours: 2-4, MW, and by appointment
ANGEL WEBSITE: cms.psu.edu
sbronner@psu.edu
amstdsjb (AIM)
http://www.personal.psu.edu/sjb2
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AMSTD 500 Theory and Method, Penn State Harrisburg, Fall 2004, Prof. Bronner, Page 2 of 19
DESCRIPTION OF AMERICAN STUDIES
American Studies is a challenging form of inquiry into the meaning of the American experience,
usually characterized by a thematic, holistic perspective on American culture, ideas and
worldview. It takes as its evidence cultural texts, symbols, and performances; historic events,
documents, landscapes, and artifacts; social/political/intellectual movements; and diverse
communities and individual profiles. A significant goal of the American Studies enterprise is to
identify and interpret patterns, ideas, and themes characterizing the nation and its people. It seeks
perspectives on the United States as a unity and diversity of cultures. It uses evidence from
traditional and popular expressions--including songs, houses, festivals, novels, films, to name a
few--in addition to notable events, arts, and figures studied in America. It recognizes the
country’s cultural legacy in comparison to national movements and societies across the globe. It
also considers American culture and communities as part of the experience of other countries and
regions. It has played a special role in public as well as academic sectors, informing careers
especially in education, museums, historical and cultural agencies, libraries and archives,
government, and communications. At Penn State Harrisburg, which offers the M.A. in American
Studies, specialty areas are material and visual culture, public heritage, folklife and popular
culture, ethnicity and race, and Middle Atlantic regional studies. For more information on the
international scope of American Studies, see www.theasa.net.
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OBJECTIVES OF COURSE
The class introduces American Studies as the research and interpretation of the American
experience. Additionally, it provides a grounding in the history, scope, and philosophy of
American Studies. By the end of the course,
1. Students will be able to apply in their research and writing major techniques used by
American Studies scholars: rhetorical criticism and symbolic analysis, history of ideas and
psychological perspectives, social analysis and cultural studies, ethnographic and cross-cultural
interpretation.
2. Students will be able to use with facility major print and electronic resources used by
American Studies scholars: American Quarterly, Making of America, ArtStor, Camio,
Encyclopedia of American Studies, Crossroads, H-AMSTDY, ASANET, American Memory
3. Students will be able to present the intellectual heritage that defines American Studies as a
discipline: its founding, evolution, applications, and trajectories.
4. Students will be able to work with a variety of evidence in their studies: historical documents,
visual and material objects, literary and cultural productions, behavioral and communicative
events.
5. Students will have developed different presentational competencies: writing, oral
communication, visual representation, and electronic “discussion.”
The objectives of the course are admittedly broad, befitting a gateway course, but within the goal
of introducing American Studies theory and method, the course has a focus on a related set of
overarching questions on identity that are at the core of American Studies:
How do Americans define themselves? How have they been defined by others?
How is America defined in relation to other countries and its own subcultures?
By the end of the course, students should be able to propose answers to these questions,
understanding a variety of interpretations prevalent within American Studies.
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AMSTD 500 Theory and Method, Penn State Harrisburg, Fall 2004, Prof. Bronner, Page 4 of 19
The themes and ideas that emerge in answer to these questions constitute fundamental inquiries
of American Studies: democracy, individualism, egalitarianism, pastoralism, industrialism,
consumerism, cultural diversity, and progressivism, among others.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
The course requires use of a computer and readings and assignments require use of the ANGEL
website (cms.psu.edu or www.angel.psu.edu):
After logging on, you’ll choose AMSTD 500 from your course profile, and then see a set of
“tabs.” The folders referred to in this syllabus are mostly under the “Course Lessons” tab.
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AMSTD 500 Theory and Method, Penn State Harrisburg, Fall 2006, Prof. Bronner, Page 5 of 19
You should have an access account allowing you to log on to the Penn State network. You can
use computers on campus at various lab locations or use a laptop on campus that logs into the
wireless system. If you’re using a computer at home to access ANGEL or Penn State resources, a
broadband connection is highly recommend. Most databases require a PC platform; the
following chart summarizes the technical needs, which are usually standard on consumer
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AMSTD 500 Theory and Method, Penn State Harrisburg, Fall 2004, Prof. Bronner, Page 6 of 19
computers. For a site to retrieve free Penn State downloads, see https://downloads.its.psu.edu/.
For technical assistance with Penn State computer resources, contact: helpdesk@psu.edu or look
at the guide to information technology posted at http://css.its.psu.edu/internet/ For local help,
you can visit:
Instructional and Information Technologies
E302 Olmsted Building
777 West Harrisburg Pike
Middletown, PA 17057
Computer Center Phone: 717-948-6188
Operating System
XP recommended
Processor
Memory
Hard Drive Space
Browser
500 MHz or higher
128 MB of RAM
500 MB free disk space
Windows: Internet Explorer 6 or higher OR
Windows Firefox 1.0 or higher
Adobe Reader
Flash Player
Quicktime Player
Microsoft Office or Word Perfect
Broadband (cable or DSL) connection
recommended
Plug-ins
Additional Software
Internet Connection
STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE
The course is organized around the major routes into American Studies--historical, literary, and
sociocultural–and begins and ends with the crossroads we strive to proclaim as American
Studies. This course is the required “gateway” for American Studies graduate students, and it is
open to students from other programs or non-degree students considering American Studies.
As American Studies has had a publicly active orientation to the advancement of knowledge,
the different sections of the class are identified by the actions taken to achieve intellectual
synthesis: locating, identifying, narrating, collecting, materializing, to name a few.
Students will read classic works in American Studies and have a background in the intellectual
legacy of American Studies, think about new trends and uses of evidence, become familiar with
technological aids to research, and analyze different media. The course outline proceeds from an
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introduction to the scope, tools (including electronic resources), and historiography of
American Studies to (1) historical perspectives (especially mythic analysis and rhetorical
analysis of a variety of texts besides “documents”; prevalent themes in American eras); (2)
perspectives from literature, culture, and the arts (especially the reading of texts in
historical, geographical, regional, and ideological contexts and issues of nationality, ethnicity,
gender, class, and race within cultural production of literature, film, television, and theater); (3)
social science perspectives (especially use of ethnography, quantitative techniques, social
survey, and cultural collection to assess American scenes, groups, and landscapes); and (4)
applications (e.g., museums, historic preservation, archives, community action) and future
directions of American Studies.
ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS
The products of the class will be two writing assignments using different approaches in
American Studies: rhetorical/symbolic analysis, ethnographic/cultural collection, social
science/cross-cultural. Students use templates provided on ANGEL (Lessons Tab, Assignments
and Guides Folder). The assignments and due dates are:
I. Rhetorical/Symbolic Analysis of Historic/Literary Texts
November 1
II. Ethnographic Study, Social Analysis, or Cultural Collection
December 13
Each assignment and type of presentation will be outlined in a printed guide and explained
in class. Students are required to confer with the instructor about the topics they choose. They
can communicate directly by phone, office appointment, or electronic mail. Assignments are
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submitted through in the ANGEL “drop box” provided in the Lessons Tab, Assignments and
Guides Folder.
The projects are marked for composition and scholarship; see grading rubric on ANGEL
(Lessons tab, Assignments and Guides folder). Graded assignments are returned electronically.
Students can see comments by turning “track changes” on from the Tools drop-down menu.
THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF THE ESSAY TYPES:
I. The rhetorical/symbolic analysis uses primary historical, visual, or literary texts publicly
stating the views of historic figures or movements or reporting events or issues to assess the
ideas and symbols conveyed through key phrases/images and strategies of persuasion. You will
interpret texts for their historical and/or cultural contexts. See, for example, essays in the classic
work Virgin Land by Henry Nash Smith, and more recently, The American Dream by James
Cullen, and America on Film by Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin, all of which will be discussed
in class (minimum 7 pages).
II. The ethnographic analysis is an observation of an American cultural scene in which
symbolic communication in the form of speech and behavior occurs. Consider the following
examples in scholarship using ethnography to examine American cultural scenes that reveal
performances of gender, race, ethnicity, age, occupation, and locality: a beauty parlor serving
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AMSTD 500 Theory and Method, Penn State Harrisburg, Fall 2006, Prof. Bronner, Page 9 of 19
elderly women, a bar with a male clientele, a firefighting station, and a competition for
professional poker players. The setting, participants, and communication should be documented,
analyzed, and interpreted. See, for example, essays in Manly Traditions.
The analysis of social surveys/polls or statistical tables/maps should quantitatively answer a
question about American social trends, movements, or opinions. Analyze data from sources such
as Gallup polls, census data, Immigration and Naturalization Service data, and public surveys.
See, for example, some of the studies released by the Pennsylvania State Data Center .
The cultural collection brings together related archival, artifactual, or field texts for comparison.
The interpretation involves bringing together representative samples in or across regions,
periods, styles, or themes to make statements about stylistic or textural changes. To address a
cultural question or problem, You can collect or document related sets of folklore, music,
graphics, tools, paintings, sculptures, environments, or houses. Manly Traditions also contains
examples of this approach. (minimum 7 pages)
OTHER ACTIVITIES
In addition to developing writing competencies in this class, you will also have activities
intended to give practice in oral presentation, visual literacy, and discussion. These activities are
summarized as a “class participation” grade.
The descriptions of the activities along with dates are:
September 27: In-class participation in group presentation (min. 10 minutes) on evidence of the
“frontier myth” in American media
October 4: Post message (min. 200 words) to discussion thread in ANGEL on response to idea
of “American Dream.”
October 25: Short (min. 5 minutes) in-class presentation on active folk traditions in your life,
family, community, or folk group.
November 8: Post photograph with commentary (min. 100 words) to FLICKR group site.
December 13: Search on-line program of American Studies Association annual meeting
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AMSTD 500 Theory and Method, Penn State Harrisburg, Fall 2004, Prof. Bronner, Page 10 of 19
(www.asanet.org) at Oakland and post message to discussion thread in ANGEL on panel or
workshop you would want to participate in along with a proposal you would make if you were to
participate (min. 100 words). Class participation is graded according to the following rubric:
ATTRIBUTE
1. Student followed guidelines and instructions
of assignment
2. Student contribution is thorough and
properly documented
3. Student contribution demonstrates
knowledge and/or research of subject
4. Student contribution demonstrates insight,
creativity, and/or imagination
5. Written or visual contributions are clear,
well composed, and logical in sequence and
content
Excellent Good Average Below
Poor
Average
5
4
3
2
1
5
4
3
2
1
5
4
3
2
1
5
4
3
2
1
5
4
3
2
1
TOTAL POINTS= (Score on each attribute) X 4
Individual “Class Participation” grades will be posted halfway through the course to give
students indications of how they are doing in this aspect of the course. A final “Class
Participation” grade will be given at the end of the course.
GRADING AND DEADLINE SUMMARY
The following table organized in ascending order by date summarizes the graded activities and
assignments in the course.
Date Due
September 27
October 4
October 25
November 1
Type of Assignment
Oral Group Presentation
Post Message to Thread
Individual Presentation
First Essay:
Rhetorical/Symbolic Analysis
Post Photo and Commentary
to FLICKR group site
Post Message to Thread
Second Essay:
Ethnographic, Social, or
Cultural Analysis
November 8
December 13
December 13
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AMSTD 500 Theory and Method, Penn State Harrisburg, Fall 2006, Prof. Bronner, Page 11 of 19
The following tables summarize the grading.
Category
First Essay
Second Essay
Grade Participation
Points
280-300
270-279
261-269
249-260
240-248
231-239
210-230
180-209
Below 179
Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
D
F
XF
Points
100
100
100
Quality of Performance
Exceptional Achievement
Excellent Achievement
Extensive Achievement
Good Achievement
Acceptable Achievement
Minimal Achievement
Inadequate Achievement
Inadequate Achievement
Failure
Academic Dishonesty
GPA Equivalent
4.00
3.67
3.33
3.00
2.67
2.33
2.00
1.00
0.00
0.00
For more information on Penn State’s grading policy, see
http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/47-00.html#47-60.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS (Available at Campus Bookstore)
Bronner, Simon J. Folk Nation: Folklore in the Creation of American Tradition. Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
Bronner, Simon J., ed. Manly Traditions: The Folk Roots of American Masculinities.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
Cullen, Jim. The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2003.
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AMSTD 500 Theory and Method, Penn State Harrisburg, Fall 2004, Prof. Bronner, Page 12 of 19
Fishkin, Shelley Fisher. Lighting Out for the Territory: Reflections on Mark Twain and
American Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Stewart, Edward C., and Milton J. Bennett. American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural
Perspective. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1991.
REQUIRED ELECTRONIC TEXTS (Available on ANGEL)
Adams, Henry. “The Virgin and the Dynamo,” Chapter 25, in The Education of Henry Adams
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1918), available on-line at
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HADAMS/eha25.html
American Studies Association Annual Meeting Program, Oakland, CA, Http://www.theasa.net
Bronner, Simon J. Ethnic Ancestry in Pennsylvania: An Analysis of Self-Identification.
Middletown: Pennsylvania State Data Center, 1996.
Bronner, Simon J. “Folk Objects.” In Folk Groups and Folklore Genres, ed. Elliott Oring, 99124. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1986.
Danforth, Samuel. A Brief Recognition of New-Englands Errand into the Wilderness; Made in
the Audience of the General Assembly of the Massachusetts Colony, at Boston in N.E. on
the 11th of the third Moneth, 1670, being the day of Election there. Cambridge, Mass.,
1671.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1038&context=libraryscience
#search=%22samuel%20danforth%20errand%20into%20wilderness%22
Dorson, Richard M. The Birth of American Studies. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1976.
Marx, Leo. “Believing in America: An Intellectual Project and a National Ideal.” Boston Review
(December 2003/January 2004). http://bostonreview.net/BR28.6/marx.html
Miller, Perry “Errand Into The Wilderness.” William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., Vol. 10, No.
1 (Jan., 1953), pp. 3-32
Pinsker, Sanford. “Henry Adams and Our New Century,” Partisan Review 67 (2000), available
on-line at http://www.bu.edu/partisanreview/archive/2000/2/pinsker.html
.
Smith, Henry Nash. Chapter 9: The Western Hero in the Dime Novel, in Virgin Land (Harvard
University Press, 1950), http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/chapter9.html
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Smith, Henry Nash. Chapter 11: Garden of the World, in Virgin Land (Harvard University Press,
1950). http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/chap11.html.
Smith, Henry Nash. Chapter 22: Myth of the Garden and Turner’s Frontier Hypothesis, in Virgin
Land (Harvard University Press, 1950).
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/chap22.html
Smith, Henry Nash. “Can "American Studies" Develop a Method?” American Quarterly 9
(Summer, 1957), pp. 197-208.
Turner, Frederick Jackson. “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.”
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/TURNER/chapter1.html
FREQUENTLY USED WEB SITES IN COURSE
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amstd-hbg/join (site to subscribe to listserv for American
Studies Program at Penn State Harrisburg)
http://www.flickr.com (photo file sharing site)
http://www.youtube.com (video file sharing site)
http://www.psu.edu (Penn State home page)
http://www.hbg.psu.edu ( Penn State Harrisburg home page)
http://www.hbg.psu.edu/hum/paculture/ (Center for Pennsylvania Culture Studies)
http://www.georgetown.edu/crossroads (American Studies Crossroads Site including
American Studies Association)
http://www.lias.psu.edu/
(Penn State's Library Catalogue)
http://www.theasa.net (American Studies Association)
http://www.umdl.umich.edu/moa/ ( Making of America Website with on-line texts)
http://xroads.virginia.edu/ (American Studies Hypertext Collection from U of Virginia)
http://www.census.gov (United State Census)
http://www.loc.gov (Library of Congress, including American Folklife Center, American
Memory Project, Thomas for legislative records, On-line Exhibitions)
http://www.si.edu (Smithsonian Institution exhibitions and resources, Office of Folklife
Programs)
www.imdb.com (searchable database for movies 1890 to present)
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COURSE OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE
I. Synthesis, Scope, Tools, and Historiography of American Studies
II. Historical Perspectives
III. Perspectives from Literature, Culture, and the Arts
IV. Social Science Perspectives
V. Applications and Future Directions of American Studies
I. Synthesis, Scope, Tools, and Historiography of American Studies
Meeting 1: September 6
INTRODUCTION TO COURSE
Introductory class with aim of defining American Studies as a questioning
and locating of the American Experience. Resource Packets distributed,
assignments and course resources on the web explained.
A. IMPORTANCE OF RESOURCES--PRINT, ELECTRONIC, HUMAN
1. The terminology of American studies: civilization, culture(s),
experience
2. The methods of American studies as hybridized approaches
3. theories, trends, and “styles” of American experience
4.. importance of presentation--in writing, oral presentation, exhibition,
web.
B. GOALS OF AMERICAN STUDIES
1. The goals of American studies beyond interdisciplinarity: questioning
the American experience
2. locating America.(cultural formation and adaptation in North America,
along the nation’s movable borders, and abroad)
3. reforming America.
N.B. During second half of class, we will meet in computer lab, Rm. C15,
Olmsted Building
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Meeting 2: September 13
C. CONCEPTUALIZING AMERICAN STUDIES: HISTORY AND PRACTICE OF
AMERICAN STUDIES
We will discuss the emergence of the American Studies movement from the 1930s
and the formation of the first American Studies degree programs to the present. From
this institutional history, we will chart the goals and practices of American Studies as
they have changed over time. American Studies scholars often refer to its "style" with
reference to its distinctive rhetoric and trends. We will discuss that style and how it has
changed since the founding of the American Studies movement. In a computer
workshop, we will have a hands-on guide to electronic sources in American Studies and
Penn State tools for communication.
READING (on Angel):
Richard Dorson, “The Birth of American Studies.”
Leo Marx, “Believing in America”
Henry Nash Smith, “Can American Studies Develop a Method?”
D. WEB AND COMPUTER RESOURCES
E-Mail, USENET, and AMSTD Listservs: Penn State Harrisburg AMSTD Listserv,
Creating a listserv, Penn State listservs
World Wide Web: Encyclopedia of American Studies, Crossroads Project, Making of
America, America: History and Life, MLA, Sociological Abstracts, University of
Virginia Hypertext Library, ArtStor, Camio, JStor
Special Collections at Penn State Harrisburg: Center for Pennsylvania Culture Studies
Regional Resources: State Archives, Societies, Museums, Special Collections of Area
Colleges, State Agencies, Federal Records, Festivals, Research Centers, Cultural
Agencies and Organizations, Ethnic Centers
Library References: LIAS and E-Resources
N.B. During second half of class, we will meet in Computer Lab C15, Olmsted Building.
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II. Historical Perspectives
Meeting 3: September 20
A. NARRATING HISTORY: DOCUMENTARY APPROACHES AND
RHETORICAL/MYTHIC ANALYSIS
We will discuss the documentary/chronological emphasis in historical studies and the
American Studies use of rhetorical/symbolic analysis drawing on historical and literary
studies. A question asked in American Studies has been "what distinguishes the
American experience?" A way to answer that question has been to identify symbols,
images, and "myths" or themes characterizing American ideas and conditions. We will
focus on the theme most often mentioned in discussions of distinctive American
experiences: the Puritan founding experience, democracy and liberty, and the movable
frontier. As examples, we will look at the westward movement beginning with the
Puritans and the themes of the American chosen people, American exceptionalism,
emergence of democracy, myth of the garden, and the formation of American character
with an emphasis on the rhetorical/symbolic interpretations of “persuasive” texts.
READING (ANGEL):
Samuel Danforth, “Errand into Wilderness.”
Perry Miller, “Errand into Wilderness.”
B. DISTINGUISHING AND MYTHOLOGIZING AMERICA: EXCEPTIONALISM
AND THE FRONTIER
READING (ANGEL):
Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”
Henry Nash Smith, Chapters 9, 11, 22 in Virgin Land.
Meeting 4: September 27
C. UPDATING THE FRONTIER IN AMERICAN CULTURE
In examples such as the imagination of science fiction and the rhetoric of the space
program, we will examine uses and changing meanings of the frontier in contemporary
American popular culture. Students will make presentations based on group discussions
of texts that display this “myth.” As individuals, students should identify key
texts/images available on the Web and other media.
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D. PROGRESS AND THE IDEA OF THE “MODERN” IN AMERICAN CULTURE
In this class, students will critically apply the approach of machines as icons to an
understanding of modernizing America after industrialization. We will compare the
views of Henry Adams extolling the “dynamo” as the icon of the industrial age and
Sanford Pinsker’s contemplation of Adams’s thesis to the 21st century, in which Pinsker
claims the microchip rather than the mammoth dynamo prevails as an icon. Think about
other technological icons that describe an age, and how they provide insight or
explanation of the period’s patterns.
READING:
Henry Adams, “The Virgin and the Dynamo”
Sanford Pinsker, “Henry Adams and Our New Century”
ACTIVITY:
Oral presentation to class working with a group to ways that the frontier as an idea is
expressed in various media.
Meeting 5: October 4
E. THE AMERICAN DREAM: ANALYZING AMERICAN IDEAS.
“The American Dream” is both a phrase and an idea, often characterized as the most
commonly associated with the American experience. Yet a search for the origins of the phrase
shows that it is of recent vintage. Can it be traced back earlier, then, as an idea? If so, what forms
did it take? In this class, the objectives are to appreciate the “American Dream” as a topic that is
important in American Studies and to arrive at a method of analyzing American ideas historically
and culturally.
READING:
Cullen, The American Dream
ACTIVITY:
Post message on what American Dream means to you on Discussion Thread on ANGEL.
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III. Perspectives from Literature, Culture, and the Arts
Meeting 6: October 11
A. DISCERNING AMERICA: THE QUESTION OF A NATIONAL AND REGIONAL
LITERATURE IN THE UNITED STATES
What is American about American literature? And how does it express and emote
place--region, community, nation--for its readers? These questions commanded the
attention for many years in the American Studies movement and we will take them
up. To focus our study and to work through American Studies uses of literary criticism,
we will use the example of Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn. As an author and
text/character, Twain and Finn are often cited as part of a distinctive American/national
literature. An American Studies question that Shelley Fisher Fishkin, poses beyond
literary criticism is the “representation” of Twain and Finn in American culture,
especially regarding race. The session will be led by Professor Charles Kupfer, who
studied with Fishkin.
READING:
Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Lighting Out for the Territory.
Meeting 7: October 18
B. ETHNOGRAPHY OF “CULTURAL SCENES” IN AMERICA.
We will discuss observational analysis of cultural scenes in ethnography. This session
will be led by Professor Michael Barton, who teaches courses in ethnography in the
American Studies Program at Penn State Harrisburg.
Meeting 8: October 25
C. COLLECTING AND OBSERVING TRADITION: FOLKLORE AND CULTURAL
COLLECTION
How do we describe American tradition and culture, particularly to get at issues of values
in communication and performance? Areas of linguistics, folklore and
folklife, and anthropology have contributed field collecting and ethnographic techniques
that we will apply to American Studies. These techniques will figure in two American
Studies forms of analysis: the cultural collection and ethnography. After discussion of the
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“search for American tradition” in folklore and folklife, students will apply the points to
texts from Folk Nation reflecting “dialogues” in historical periods about tradition. We
will discuss the idea of the cultural collection, one of the choices for the third project.
READING:
Bronner, Folk Nation
ACTIVITY:
Be prepared to describe orally in class an active folk tradition you or your
family/community/folkgroup observes (e.g., rites of passage, dinner rituals,
holiday customs, narrative, nicknames, games, crafts)
Meeting 9: November 1
D. MATERIALIZING AMERICA: MATERIAL CULTURE, FOODWAYS,
LANDSCAPE, ART AND ARCHITECTURE
In this class, we will discuss artifacts as evidence and analytical approaches
toward them using cultural collection and ethnography. How is this evidence distinctive
or supplementary? Are there theoretical changes in American Studies suggested by
incorporation of “material culture”? Using the Web, we will examine ways to capture
images to create a material “cultural collection.”
E. PUBLIC SITES FOR AMERICAN STUDIES AS SUBJECT AND OBJECT
Familiarity of American Studies students with material culture and the public
“style” of American Studies suggests settings for American Studies research and
application outside of the academy. Museums, festivals, historical societies, magazines,
cultural agencies, and community organizations are often grouped together as “public
heritage.” or divided between “public history” and “public folklore, arts, and culture.”
How do they constitute both a subject (indeed an artifact) for American Studies and an
object (a location for significant public education)? How do American Studies scholars
act as “culture brokers”? We examine some controversies over public memory such as
the Enola Gay, America’s Reunion on the Mall, and Worker’s Culture in the White
House. In addition to examining museums in the United States interpreting American
experience, we also consider the museum abroad presenting American culture.
READING: Bronner, “Folk Objects.”
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FIRST ASSIGNMENT DUE: RHETORICAL/SYMBOLIC ANALYSIS
OF HISTORICAL/LITERARY TEXTS
Meeting 10: November 8
F. VISUALIZING AND PERFORMING AMERICA: POPULAR ARTS,
COMMERCIAL CULTURE, AND CULTURAL HEGEMONY THEORY
In this class, we discuss analytical approaches to American popular culture,
particularly “visual culture.” How can we apply the interpretative possibilities of
“representational” study to expressive forms such as movies? How do we take into
account the implications of these forms in “performance” with audiences, writers,
directors, and promoters? These questions are framed in emerging theories of consumer
and commercial culture. Popular culture arguably is America’s largest export; how do we
analyze it as it is adapted abroad in addition to the ways it is produced and consumed in
the United States?
READING:
Benshoff and Griffin, America on Film
ACTIVITY:
Post photograph to FLICKR group relating an American scene or theme with
commentary on your interpretation of its “representation.”
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IV. Social Science Perspectives
Meeting 11: November 15
A. RACE, ETHNICITY, GENDER, AND CLASS
In this class, we consider the use of social categories of race, ethnicity, gender,
class, and age in American Studies. More than terms, the use of these categories suggests
a theoretical perspective on American experience that emphasizes the ways that identity
are both inherited and ascribed. As an example, we’ll focus on issues of American
masculinity including the iconic image of the “Marlboro Man” and the “Macho Man.” A
central question is how these models of masculinity are expressed and how they change
according to race, ethnicity, class, and age.
READING:
Bronner, Manly Traditions
N.B. No class November 22 for Thanksgiving Holiday
Meeting 12: November 29
B. MEASURING AMERICA: CENSUSES, POLLS, SURVEYS, AND STATISTICS
In this session, we will examine uses of statistics, polls, and surveys in American Studies.
We will also identify sources for them as well as ways of generating surveys. We will use
as an example the formation of a statistical project on ethnic ancestry in Pennsylvania,
and discuss the use of Powerpoint for American Studies presentations. Another
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prominent use of statistics is for cross-cultural research, and we discuss some of the
possibilities for students to engage in that study.
READING:
Simon Bronner, Ethnic Ancestry in Pennsylvania: An Analysis of SelfIdentification
Meeting 13: December 6
C. RELATIVIZING AMERICA: COMPARATIVE SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
In addition to statistical comparisons, linguistic and behavioral information can be used
that takes the comparative perspective of studying America from international eyes and
for interpreting American culture as it is adapted in international settings (e.g., Japan’s
Disneyworld, Israeli rap music). The applications of this approach for intercultural
situations will be assessed.
READING:
Edward C. Stewart and Milton J. Bennett, American Cultural Patterns
V. Applications and Future Directions of American Studies
Meeting 14: December 13
A. DOING AMERICAN STUDIES AT PENN STATE HARRISBURG
American Studies often examines experience and the past to gain a perspective on the
future. In this session, we discuss uses of forecasts and predictions in American Studies.
With an eye toward the future, we will also discuss strategies for success on paths
through the program at Penn State Harrisburg, in individual careers, and within the
American Studies field.
SOURCES:
American Studies Graduate Handbook
B. USING AMERICAN STUDIES
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We examine examples on the Web of American Studies engaged in:
1. Education and Scholarship
2. Government, Historical and Arts Administration, and Cultural Resources Management
3. Museums, Archives, Parks, and Heritage Institutions
4. Community Programming
5. Documentary Film and Journalism
6. Information Services and Heritage Enterprises
SOURCES:
Websites listing jobs for Crossroads, H-Net, Museum Resource Board
C. THE LOCAL AND GLOBAL FUTURES OF AMERICAN STUDIES
SOURCES:
ASA Conference Programs (http://www.theasa.net)
ACTIVITY:
Search Oakland program and post a message on what panel or workshop you would want
to participate in. If you did, what would you propose to present (give title and abstract)?
SECOND ASSIGNMENT DUE: ETHNOGRAPHY, SOCIAL ANALYSIS,
OR CULTURAL COLLECTION.
N.B. Schedule Subject to Change.
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POLICY STATEMENTS: ACADEMIC FREEDOM, ACADEMIC
INTEGRITY, ATTENDANCE, CONFIDENTIALITY, DISABILITY
SERVICES
Academic Freedom
According to Penn State policy HR64, “The faculty member is expected to train students to think
for themselves, and to provide them access to those materials which they need if they are to think
intelligently. Hence, in giving instruction upon controversial matters the faculty member is
expected to be of a fair and judicial mind, and to set forth justly, without supersession or
innuendo, the divergent opinions of other investigators.” See
http://guru.psu.edu/policies/OHR/hr64.html
Academic Integrity
According to Penn State policy 49-20, Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity free
from fraud and deception and is an education objective of this institution. Academic dishonesty
includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating of information or citations,
facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of
examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the
instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students. The instructor can fail a
student for major infractions. For more information, see http://www.psu.edu/dept/ufs/policies/4700.html#49-20.
Attendance
Students are expected to complete every lesson in the course and are held responsible for all
work covered in the course. A student whose irregular attendance causes him or her, in the
judgment of the instructor, to become deficient scholastically, may run the risk of receiving a
failing grade or receiving a lower grade than the student might have secured had the student been
in regular attendance. Participation by students in the course should not be disruptive or
offensive to other class members. See http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/42-00.html#42-27
Confidentiality
The rights of students to confidentiality is of concern to your instructor and to the University.
According to Penn State policy AD-11, “The Pennsylvania State University collects and retains
data and information about students for designated periods of time for the expressed purpose of
facilitating the student's educational development. The University recognizes the privacy rights
of individuals in exerting control over what information about themselves may be disclosed and,
at the same time, attempts to balance that right with the institution's need for information
relevant to the fulfillment of its educational missions. Student educational records are defined as
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records, files, documents, and other materials that contain information directly related to a
student and are maintained by The Pennsylvania State University or by a person acting for the
University pursuant to University, college, campus, or departmental policy. Exclusions include:

Notes of a professor concerning a student and intended for the professor's own use are not
subject to inspection, disclosure, and challenge.”
For more information, see http://guru.psu.edu/policies/Ad11.html.
Disability Services and Accessibility
Any student who cannot complete requirements of the class because of physical disabilities
should make circumstances known to the instructor. In cases where documentation of disability
is available, alternative ways to fulfill requirements will be made. For more information, see
Penn State’s disability services handbook at
http://www.hbg.psu.edu/studaf/disability/dshandbook.htm.
Thank you for taking the course,
Simon Bronner
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